The Jabberjays
by TheCleanWriter
Summary: This is my version of what happened in the the jabberjay scene in Catching Fire with Finnick and Katniss. What if Katniss heard a certain voice above all the rest? One she hadn't heard in a long time. One that will drive her absolutely crazy. One-shot. Some Peeta/Katniss fluff.


**Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Hunger Games. **

**A/N: This story takes place in Catching Fire during the scene where Finnick and Katniss and stuck with the Jabberjays. This is my version of what happened.**

_**The Jabberjays**_

"So besides Brutus and Enobaria, who's left?" Katniss asked her four fellow tributes. They were all currently hiding along the beach of one of the unknown wedges.

"Maybe Chaff. Just those three." Peeta answered, scratching his face as he stared down into the sand from the spot he was sitting on on a low hanging branch.

Finnick was leaned up against the tree, looking down at the rest of his friends. "They know they're outnumbered. They won't attack again. We're safe here on the beach."

"So what do we do? Do we hunt them down?" Johanna asked. It was only seconds later that a high-pitched, female scream pierced the air, ending the current conversation. All five heads whipped towards the trees deep in the forest of the wedge, far away from their safe, watery hide-out.

"_Katniss! Help me!_" The voice yelled. Katniss' furrowed brow suddenly grew to fear as she shot to her feet, instantly recognizing the voice she'd listened to and adored all her life.

"Prim!" She screamed. The screams continued, each one sounding more and more desperate. Katniss forgot about everything. She forgot about Peeta, the Games, everything except her endangered little sister. The one she had volunteered her life for less than a year ago.

"No!" Her friends yelled behind her. She blocked out their voices as she ran, her adrenaline pumping as she sprinted into the forest, screaming for her dear sister. "Katniss! Katniss, wait!"

"Prim!" She screamed again as she rain, branches and weeds whipping her as she passed, but she felt none of it. Prim's voice circled around her, screaming. Katniss skidded to a halt, glancing all around her for any sign of her baby sister. Certainly she wasn't in the arena, right? There's no way the capital could have pulled that off! Then again, this was the Quarter Quell, and this was her second Games.

Looking up, she discovered a bird overhead. Not just any bird. A jabberjay. There were no birds in the arena. The bird circled around her, screaming desperately for help. Katniss reached behind her, pulling out an arrow and loading her bow. She drew back the string, bringing her arrow up to eye level as she slowed her breathing, a trick she often did for a more accurate shot.

She released the string, sending the arrow soaring through the air, hitting its direct target. The jabberjay died mid-scream, plummeting lifeless to the ground below.

"Katniss!" Yelled a voice from behind. Katniss whipped around, searching for what new thing had begun calling her name. She calmed as she watched Finnick draw near. He slowed as he approached, true concern glistening on his face. "You okay?"

Before Katniss could mutter a word, much less a warning of what was happening, another female voice screamed out. But this time, it wasn't Prim. And she was yelling for Finnick. "_Finnick_!"

Finnick's eyes glazed over as recognition of the voice hit him like a ton of bricks. Katniss noticed, panic rising in her as well, knowing Finnick wasn't aware of the screaming coming from the birds, not their actual loved ones.

"Finnick. No!" She called, but her efforts we useless as he pushed past her. "Annie?" He yelled as he began to run.

"Annie!" Katniss ran after him, calling for him to stop. Finally coming to a stop after a few yards, he looked around, panicked and fearful as he looked around for the only girl he'd ever truly loved. "Finnick! It's not her!" Katniss yelled, tugging on his shoulder.

This caught Finnick's attention, but only barely as he was still trying to block out the sounds of his girl's voice. He continued to peer around her head, desperate to find her unharmed behind a bush or tree. "It's just a jabberjay! It's not her!"

"How do you think they got that sound?" He asked, cutting her off. "Jabberjays copy." She paused, fear rising inside of her once again.

"_Katniss_! _Nooo_!" A male voice boomed. Their heads turned sharply towards the sound. "Gale." She whispered. Suddenly, a dark cloud of jabberjays begun to dive down, flying only inches from their faces. Finnick outstretched his arm, reaching around Katniss and pulling her towards the direction back to the beach.

"Come on!"

They ran. Jabberjays screaming the pleas of their loved ones above them as they ran. Fear and panic struck their hearts. They wanted nothing more than to end the pain and suffering of the ones they cared about, but there was nothing that could be done. They continued running, ducking their heads and more jabberjays dove down to scream in their ears.

The beach finally came to view, the other three members of their team waiting anxiously for them. Why weren't they running to help them? Peeta pounded on what seemed like an invisible wall, yelling, but neither Katniss or Finnick could make out his words. Before she could piece together what was holding the others back, she crashed into the wall, horror stricken on her face as she watched Peeta claw at the wall for her. He wanted to do nothing but hold her, cover her ears and kiss her soft lips.

Realizing they couldn't get passed the wall and that there were simply too many to kill, the two teens slid down against the wall, covering their ears in a vain attempt to block out the cries of the jabberjays. What felt like hours, yet had only been minutes, passed by. It had gotten to the point where all of the voices she heard were of all the ones she loved.

Prim, Gale, her mother, Haymitch, Cinna, Rue, even Peeta, whom she knew was in no harm on the other side of that wall. It slowly all became bearable, until one voice screamed out louder than any of the others.

"_Katniss_! _Katniss_, _please_, _help me_! _Help_!" It boomed. Her heart stopped as she looked up slowly. Peeta, being able to hear the screams of the Jabberjays, begun to pound on the invisible wall furiously, clawing at it until his fingers bled.

She slowly stood, not believing she had heard the voice correctly. It couldn't be who she thought it was.

"_Katniss_! _Please_! _It burns_!" She nearly fainted. All the other screams died around her as her thoughts narrowed in on the voice she hadn't heard in so long.

"DAD!" She shrieked. Finnick uncovered his ears, looking up at the histatrical girl as she screamed and screamed for her father. She was horror-struck, frozen to her spot on the forest floor. "DAD!"

Her mind flashed back to that fateful day. The day she'd found out her father had died in an explosion at the mine. She was only 11 years old. She could still remember the morning before he left. He had walked into the kitchen, kissed her mother as she cooked and sung a goodbye song to them, kissing her head as he left, full of smiles as he promised to take her out shooting with her bow later that evening. Then he was gone. Never to return into their home, whistling, ever again.

"_It burns_!" Her father's kind voice screamed in pain. It burns? Like an explosion? Snow had officially taken it too far. This was the last straw. Katniss would sacrifice her life for her sister, she would enter the Games every year, but she would _never _allow the Captial to make a mockery of her father's voice. He deserved better than that.

Without a second thought, she took off running back into the forest, deeper and deeper. Finnick, suspecting something being wrong, ran after her, pushing through the voices of Annie and Mags and his other loved ones as he did so. Katniss continued to run, her feet straining as she forced her way through the thick trees.

_Closer_, she thought. _Almost to the edge. _Almost to the edge is all it would take to end this. Then, they couldn't get to her. Only a few short yards from the forcefield, Katniss saw the ripple. She had arrived. She leaped for her freedom, ready to embrace the electric shock that would stop her heart before a pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist and wrenched her back.

"KATNISS, stop!" Finnick begged, his muscles tensed. She fought to escape his grasp, but found no use to it. Giving up, she collapsed in tears against her friend's chest. Finnick acted as her main support beam, helping her slowly back towards the beach. By the time it came into view, the wall had gone down and Peeta was running full speed ahead.

"Katniss! Katniss, I'm so sorry!" Peeta breathed into her hair as she flung herself into his arms, shaking uncontrollably. Peeta held onto her tight, tearing up as he felt the love of his life sob into his neck.

The group eventually wound back up towards the beach, none of them saying a word. Katniss stared down into the sand, clutching onto Peeta's hand in a death grip. No one moved, no one spoke, until Johanna cleared her throat.

"Katniss..." She began. Katniss cut her short, not caring at all what anyone had to say at the moment.

"This. Ends. Tonight." She muttered, staring off at the cornicopia. They were going to escape from this prison, even if it was the last thing she'd ever do.

**Well. That was dramatic. I always wondered how things would have played out if the Capital had pulled out the big wammy. Yeah, sure Prim means the most to her out of anyone in the world, but Katniss mentions how much her father impacted her and how big of an influence he was in her life. I figured his voice would cause the biggest emotional damage.**

**Let me know what you think!**

**ReViEw! rEvIeW!**

**-TheCleanWriter**


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